Category: Top News Stories

Medina County Crime Stoppers– Police are requesting the public’s assistance in identifying this individual who has committed several thefts at retail stores in Castroville.
This person was observed operating a GMC Acadia and is wanted for questioning.
If you have any information that could help identify this individual, please contact the Castroville Police Department.
To remain anonymous, you may submit a tip through the P3 Tips app or call 1-800-367-2833.
Your tip may be eligible for a cash reward.

By Kathleen Calame
Publisher, The Devine News
The Devine Volunteer Fire Department is facing another financial crisis and asked the MCESD#2 to help them out by providing an extra $85,000 to keep them going until the end of the fiscal year Oct.1 to cover payroll and all other expenses, which they did after much discussion. This was announced at the June 17, 2024 meeting of the ESD#2. The $85,000 plus the $80,000 still due on their 2024-25 contract is what they say is needed to survive til October 1. They also discussed the choice to promote the Chief instead of going out for applications and reiterated that many financial reports and other reports need to be turned into the ESD board monthly as required by the contract and requested by the board for transparency.
Another surprise came two days after this meeting, as the Devine VFD Board President Robert Pequeno stepped down. Pequeno stepped in that role from VP about a year ago in June 2024, and was elected in August 2024. VP Ethan Gelinas, 18, is now in charge of the DVFD per the bylaws as Acting President. Gelinas was elected VP in January 2025, and now five months later, given the responsibility of Acting President at budget time. (See separate article.)
MCESD#2 Commissioners expressed their frustrations with the fire board for not going out for applications as promised at multiple public meetings, including the most recent meeting, by conducting an competitive hiring process to get the most qualified candidate.
“You had an interim Fire Chief already, so why all of the sudden such urgency?” asked MCESD2 Commissioner Jerry Stevens, with the question directed at Devine Volunteer Fire Department Board members (President Robert Pequeno, VP Ethan Gelinas, Secretary Matt Bowers, and Treasurer Henry Salas) sitting in front of them.
“Did the President not remind you of the promise to the public and us (the board) that you would go out for applicants after all the turmoil of last year? Y’all were at most of those meetings as well when we talked about it.”
The ESD board expressed over and over, concern for the lack of transparency and trust which was promised to the public at the meetings going forward.
“This is not about you Jessica, it is about transparency and the board and department doing what’s promised,” said Comm. Stevens added.

The DVFD President read a letter to the board trying to explain their actions to include some of these highlights:
“Thank you for the opportunity to speak… share the difficult decisions we’ve had to make and respectfully request your consideration for contract amendments to help sustain our department.
Last October we hired six full-time firefighters.
In November, we discovered ….embezzling of $76,000 in department funds. (Which insurance paid back).
Our new accountant Ms. Benavides and Assistant Chief Martinez worked tirelessly to assess the full extent of the loss, initiate the insurance claim, and begin rebuilding a sound financial picture.
In February Chief Atkinson was arrested on serious charges and placed on leave (then resigned). Martinez stepped up to serve as interim chief and provide steady, professional leadership throughout the challenging transition.
Around this same time, we were informed by the ESD that its funds must be kept separate from our other revenue sources and used strictly for their designated purposes- equipment, station upkeep, and operational readiness. This separation of funds highlighted a painful reality: without the ability to use ESD funds for payroll, we cannot afford to continue employing our full time firefighters.
In the months since, we have done everything within our power to sustain our staffing. We utilized all our available DVFD funds to continue meeting payroll obligations. These measures allowed us to maintain continuity of service for as long as possible. However, those funds have now been depleted, and without additional support, we are at a financial crossroads.
With rising pressure from the public and from the ESD to fill the vacant chief position, we made the difficult but necessary decision to promote Interim Chief Martinez to permanent Chief.
Chief Martinez is not only the current Fire and EMS Academy Program Coordinator- a program that brings in a large portion of our revenue–but also a respected leader whose presence is vital to department morale.
We are asking the ESD to amend our contract to allow for ESD funds to be used toward the salaries of our full -time firefighters.”

After he read the letter the commissioners asked hard questions of the fire board and Chief.
Comm. Beadle- “I think what is frustrating to us is that Jerry asked you at our last meeting when the competitive hiring process would begin. Those specific words. Not just what is the timeline for getting us a new chief. I struggle still with the answer “we haven’t began the hiring process yet because we are looking at funding”…We love our chief, but this room was full of people, citizens and volunteers, at a meeting where this whole process that was intended (on hiring) was explained.”
Pres. Pequeno “ And I fully understand your concern and your confusion. Let me explain.”
Comm. Beadle.’” Oh, I am not confused, but I am concerned.”
Comm. Stevens- “I have to disagree with the confusion part, there was no confusion! The statement and conversation we had with the President and this board sitting in front of us today, was that we would do a competitive opening. That is what was delivered to us, the ESD board, and to the citizens of Devine.
With everything that had been going on with this fire department, we were told explicitly several times in meeting that a competitive opening hiring process would take place. Now, if Chief Martinez was the top applicant in a competitive opening, then absolutely she should be in that role. The community is not happy at the way this was done.
Stevens- “I have concerns with this fire department. With the statement that your President has just made on the fact that ‘if Martinez was not brought in as the Chief then you would leave’…then maybe you are not made for this fire department. That is from me. That is bullying and that is putting your board in a situation that it’s going to be worse. That is also affecting your community. Is that what you want for your community? You’re a part of it. For that to be stated to your board is unacceptable.”
Stevens- “To put that out there like that in an open statement, that is not right. Not for this community. For that statement to be read out loud to this board and to this community is unacceptable. I do not accept that kind of mentality from this group, this fire department.”
Beadle- I think it is fair to say for the board to tell you how to do things is mirco management. The difference is how you are going to do it and the answer of how competitive it was going to be was satisfying not only to us but the public. That is my big rub. You said you were going to do one thing, and totally didn’t do that thing. This isn’t a question asked 3 months ago. It was question asked at the last meeting.
Todd Summers- “I think I would have felt better about it if you decided you didn’t have the money you needed in your budget and would have come to us and asked for more and explained why”.
Commissioner Abigail Beadle, “ We have to account for line items in our budget. So do you have clear cut people on your payroll that all they are doing is providing fire services? They are not doing academy, not doing other (city code compliance) services? For example you yourself must say we are paying 70% from ESD funds and 30% others (fire, academy or city funds) and specify. Do you know what I mean?
Comm. Stevens, “I want to interject for a second. From what I understand prior to, correct me if I am wrong, the prior chief and so forth and so on, there was a big push for going to paid fire fighter. Correct?
Chief Martinez, “Yes”.
Comm. Stevens, “What we are seeing now is, where we are at theoretically, the DVFD cannot afford to pay for fire fighters? Yes or no?
Chief Martinez, “Yes”.
Comm. Stevens, “So has there been some discussion amongst you about a hard reset? I’m going to pay devil’s advocate because I’m going to get calls as to Jerry doesn’t want to pay fire fighters. I’m not saying that. I’m talking about a hard reset. What did we do before we were paying full time fire fighters? How were we making it? This fire house has been around for over or close to 100 years… I know that is not what people want to hear. But I think you as the board and you the leadership team, the chief and assistant chief, need to have some discussion amongst yourselves about this. I know there are funds there. And what we are being told by our attorney…We were successful before we went that direction. Maybe we need to take a step back and do a better job of planning and putting this together instead of just trying to fumble all the way through all of this.”
ESD#2 President Todd Summers, “History of it is there has always been a challenge all over the country…. having enough people who can make those calls, and get out the door, especially in today’s environment where employers don’t give you time to go volunteer. And we don’t have a lot of people who work locally and volunteer as much as we did at one time. So that is where this all got started. To at least have a couple people that can jump in a truck and get going that direction and others can meet them there. If you can get that truck there and get water started, sometimes that 3 to 5 minutes makes a big difference. That is where it came from, and we started having this conversation.”
Comm. Nighswander, “What we are seeing now, the proof is in the pudding on response time”.
Well I know we are talking about that and you’re talking about responding to fire calls and putting water in hoses. But our break down of the calls shows that we are doing a lot of mutual aid for EMS. Isn’t ESD4 our EMS? So it is great what we are doing but is it affecting them and their numbers too? I’m trying to understand this. Were we doing EMS runs before we got into paid firefighters?
Chief Martinez- “We were, it was only per request or if there was not an ambulance in service.”
Comm. Beadle- “So think too, I know what y’all ( the board) are asking about right now is how we can help them figure out how to get through to the end of the fiscal year (July-Aug-Sept). One of my questions is, ‘Are there clear cut EMTs (full time firefighters) providing only fire services? And what percentage of ESD funds have been used for that (up to this point)?
Chief Martinez- “ Since the splitting of accounts?”
Beadle- “No I mean prior to that. Has ESD funds been used for this?
Chief Martinez- “Any personnel who has been paid by us before the accounts got split, I don’t know what was ESD and what was not.”
Beadle- “Do you know how much you need from the ESD? How much of what we are paying you, do you need to pay your salaries?”
Nancy Pepper, ESD Board Bookkeeper- “I think before we can figure out pay, what we need to pay, we need to see a breakdown of what kind of salaries they have.”
Martinez replied, “It’s $75,000 per shift.”
Pepper- “I know, but to who? I don’t have to have names. But, we are paying the Chief and the Asst Chief this much. We are paying fire fighters that are here every day this much, and we are paying people that are instructors, which we are not suppose to be paying, but we are paying them this much.”
Martinez- “No, no we aren’t.”
Pepper- “Maybe not, but we can’t tell how much we are paying “
Stevens- “That is what you need to provide for us, something in writing. I know you are going off your memory, saying we are doing this and doing that. But you need salaries and you need to give us numbers and projections for Mrs. Pepper, a breakdown on paper. The Fire Board needs to provide that to us the ESD board…what you are needing, broken down.”
Martinez- “The 2026 year budget breakdown, I have it broken down in that way. The only reason it is now in front of me is because that has not been completely finalized.”
Beadle- “What do you estimate 10%, 20%, 30% or 100 %, what do you estimate of ESD money has been paid to salaries up to now?
Martinez- “I don’t know”
Beadle “That makes it hard to say how much was used in prior leadership for salaries. If we knew say 25% was being used by prior leadership that gives me a place to start working from.
Nighswander- “It’s hard to say since it was co-mingled”.
Summers- “We have two issues. Do we want to use ESD funds for salaries? Yes or no. If so how much of the budget? We have to decide that.”
Abigail- I feel like all I can tell right now is that you need $85,000 to pay salaries. That is what I can work with on a one time basis. I can’t tell what you need on a ongoing basis.
Pepper- “Is this what you need to get you through to the end of September?”
Martinez-”Yes”
Beadle-” So if we approve a one-time $85,000 and let you use it for salaries….
Martinez-Yes that is all we need for everything including salaries to get us through to the end of the fiscal year Martinez acknowledged.
Beadle and Pepper suggested that the $80,000 still owed on the current contract between the two boards be used as an advance instead of a $85,000 amendment.
After three hours of debating and questioning, the ESD#2 board decided to give the fire department an additional $85,000.
Chief Martinez and Assistant Chief Scott DeLucia explained the numbers in the budget were inflated by the prior leadership. When the accounts were split it was obvious, they stated.
Contract requirements
MCESD Commissioner Ken Nighswander read off a list of items from the contract that will be required from the fire department to provide to the ESD board monthly, quarterly and annually. More on this soon as the contract renewal is coming up soon.
What now
Both boards will have to decide what is needed to keep fire protection in ESD2, as funded by the taxpayers.
Will taxes need to go up to cover 24/7 full time firefighters, or will a hard reset with a combination of volunteers and paid firefighters work out?
Budget time is coming up in July and August and must be set by September according to the board.
Both boards have a lot to consider and figure out.
The fire department receives tax dollars from the following taxing entities as of last year: MCESD#2 for fire only, Devine ISD for Academy only, Pearsall ISD for Academy only, and City of Devine for Code Enforcement.
The next fire department meeting is Monday, July 14th.
The next MCESD#2 meeting is Tuesday, July 15th.

Sheriff’s office joins forces with agencies to combat “cat and mouse” game

Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown and his team joined forces with 11 different agencies to crack down on crime coming through Medina County. The massive maneuver called Operation Lone Star led to the arrests of over thirty people, with charges ranging from Human Trafficking, to Drugs and Firearms charges, to Vehicle Thefts, or Outstanding Warrants.
Having so many officers and deputies here to help, allows them to beat criminals at their own game, the sheriff explains.
“It’s a game of cat and mouse because the smugglers all have scouts,” Sheriff Brown explains. “So they come through and mark where police are on their wave apps. Once they mark our location, and we have the main roads covered, they start…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!

“The United States has defeated NWS before and we will do it again,” said USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins during the big announcement this past Wednesday, June 18.  Congressman Tony Gonzales and  Rollins laid out the plan to launch an $8.5 million “fly dispersal facility” using sterile New World screwworms (NWS) in South Texas. 

Per the USDA, the facility in South Texas is expected to be ready within six months. In addition, they announced a sweeping five-pronged plan to detect, control, and eliminate this pest. 

 “Today’s policy changes represent a huge step forward to eradicating the screwworm and protecting American livestock, especially the opening of a U.S.-based eradication facility in South Texas. This facility has been one of my top priorities in Congress. From introducing the STOP Screwworms Act to leading funding efforts through my seat on the House Appropriations Committee, I am determined to do everything possible to eliminate this deadly parasite,” said Congressman Tony Gonzales.  

  “We do not take lightly the threat NWS poses to our livestock industry, our economy, and our food supply chain,” Rollins said. “The United States government will use all resources at its disposal to push back NWS….We have the proven tools, strong domestic and international partnerships, and the grit needed to win this battle.”  

Continue reading “Texas leaders prepare to launch “fly dispersal” facility in South TX”

By Kayleen Holder
Editor
Local Wildlife Biologist Matt Reidy recorded getting 7.4 inches in 1 day, Thursday, June 12 in the Lytle area. That’s the biggest 1 day rain he has recorded in the past 13 years for that area. “The closest I have had to that kind of rain in a day was 4.35 inches in 2012,” Reidy said.
Local feed store operator, Fred Morales reports that “we did pretty well here in Devine” too.
“Everyone around Devine is sitting right at 6-7 inches in the past week. We got about a quarter of our annual rainfall, in 2 days. Most of it in 1 day,” Morales said, something he says is starting to seem like the “new normal.”
As far as farming goes, “it’s late for corn and row crops, and early for peanuts,” Morales noted. “But it’s going to be great for our pastures and our ponds. A lot of times, cattle ranchers struggle as much with keeping water in their ponds as much as they do grass in the pastures….It’s also great timing for our warm season grasses, which is predominately what we have around here.”
Between Devine and Castroville, another reader recorded between 5-6 inches. In the Black Creek area outside Devine, another reported getting up to 7 inches.
According to the SA Express News, they got over 6 inches of rain recorded at San Antonio International Airport on Thursday, which is according to them, the highest one-day rainfall total since 2013. In addition, KSAT reports it’s also San Antonio’s 10th highest daily rain total of ALL TIME (with records beginning in 1880s).
Water rose quickly, and 15 vehicles were swept away from the Loop 410 and Perrin Beitel access road into the creek below, according to SAFD. The death toll of flooding in Bexar County rose to 13 as of Monday.

Natalia Volunteer firefighters responded to the scene of a horrible accident Friday, June 13 around 8:55 pm. The young man driving a Hondo Civic crashed into the guardrail on FM 1343 between Devine and Castroville, right after the S curve past Custom Refinishing.
When first responders arrived, bystanders had already pulled the young man out of the vehicle. Air life was too far out, so he was transported by EMS to University Hospital with serious injuries.
“The cabin of the car was full of smoke, and they thought it…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!